August 26, 2017

I've been hearing these two phrases a lot lately. From colleagues at work to friends at the supermarket, and even from relatives. And I don't like it. In fact, I completely disagree with them. Big time. I'll tell you why.

Luck is when you win the jackpot on the lottery.
Luck is waking up safe in your own bed after a crazy night old with your friends, having absolutely no idea how you got home.
Luck is when the cashier gives you too much change.
Or when you get to the train station late but thankfully your train was also delayed.

That's luck. When things by chance happen in your favor. Being dedicated and fully committed to what you love doing, working hard on it and achieving results, is not a luck. It's a consequence.

10 months ago, my boyfriend and I decided that we wanted to visit a far, exotic destination for longer than your average 7 to 10 night holiday. So we made a plan. We organised our finances; how long is it going to take us to make it happen, how many hours per week we need work, and how much we should save every month.

It was not easy. There were days I was waking up after 6 hours sleep because of writing a blog post till late the night before and asking myself - do I really want to go to work and do a full 9 hour day? Of course, I didn't. I could spend these 9 hours editing photos or blogging, but the idea of spending almost a month in Bali was stronger than the lack of enthusiasm. Every single time.

It's not luck to thank that I'm off to the Bali lagoon beaches that I've always wanted to visit. It's fully because of me and my choices.

It's sad that every so often I meet people who have forgotten that what happens in their life is in their own hands. The choices they made and the consequences of them are their own responsibility. It's easy to attribute luck (or the lack of it) for what happens in our lives. It's convenient and easy. It's also easy to admire from the outside (or be jealous of) other people's achievements. It's easy to sit and wait for something incredible to happen.

But I'll tell you a secret. The real good things in life don't come easy. It takes passion, dedication, patience, and commitment. Life is an adventure. A journey. A challenge. Words like "you're so lucky!", "I'm so jealous!" and "easy" shouldn't exist in your vocabulary at all if you want to make your dreams happen.

I work hard towards achieving my goals. Constantly. And I won't stop until I do. And so can you. All it takes is motivation and taking responsibility. Luck is so overrated.